Tag: body acceptance

People are made in all different shapes and sizes. Diversity is not only a very beautiful thing, but a very common and normal part of life.

I think it’s awesome that we live in a world where everyone looks different, and unique. It could be much worse-we could live within an episode of Star Trek where everyone looks exactly the same, and it’s boring and bland…

I’ve been my size pretty much my whole (nearly 30 years) life. Except for pregnancy, and I naturally lost all the baby weight. I’m not a work-out fiend. I wish I were, and I get excited about trying a new ab challenge every once in a while, but it’s always the same; I put it off until tomorrow, and then before I know it, it’s taco tuesday and I’ll start that 30 day challenge next month. I’m lazy. No shame.

Do I wish I had bigger breasts and a bigger butt? Of course. Who doesn’t want their body to look better? I don’t think anyone is completely happy with their looks. We all want nicer bodies, hair, nails, whatever. I honestly hate being skinny. Whoever made up “thin privilege” has never went to the mall with me. I’m lucky if I find anything I like in my size. Although, I think that’s a universal woman problem, regardless of size…

And it does really upset me when I hear stories of people who have felt such pressure by peers, or celebrities they admire, that they began to hate their bodies. It’s a terrible thing to know that somewhere, there’s a 15 year old girl starving herself to look like the model on the cover of Cosmopolitan. There’s a 16 year old somewhere who thinks she needs breast implants and butt injections in order to feel beautiful. And it kills me to know that even a few people I personally know went to extreme lengths to look as skinny as I do (but really I was sitting on the couch eating nachos and not exercising).

When I receive those comments that, “Not all of us look like you!”, I used to explain that it’s always been very hard for me to gain weight. I have health problems that seem like a blessing in disguise to some. But my weight isn’t something I can, unfortunately, control.

But since I can’t control it, I’m not going to downplay myself to put anyone else at ease. I used to say “Oh, I got that dress in a size (3 sizes bigger) because it didn’t fit,” just to make a friend feel better. I’m not going to admit to working out like crazy four times a week, when I know that I spent that time vegging out on the couch once the baby was asleep. I’m not gong to agree with someone’s assumption that I just “Don’t eat a lot” when most days, my plate is bigger than my 250+ pound husband.

I don’t feel like lying is helping the issues that someone else has with their appearance.

We need to teach people, young and old, that health is all that matters. Not striving to be like the cover of a magazine, or comparing yourself to someone you know-but to just try to be healthy. And don’t look to your peers and the beautiful people on TV to be your comparison. Motivation is one thing, but when it becomes dangerous to your own self image, it needs to stop. And by lying, you can inadvertently create an image that may cause someone trying to replicate what they think is real, to spiral out of control.

Not to mention, it just isn’t fair to me. If I can wear something, I’m going to. If I don’t feel like going to the gym, I won’t. It’s not up to me to be a spokesperson for my type, or to encourage anyone else to strive to be like me. I’m just myself.

And with that in mind, I’m going to learn to love myself. Other’s might not like me, but that doesn’t mean I don’t need to. I need to learn to love my body (and hair, and personality). Every woman needs to learn to love themselves. Because no matter who you are, someone somewhere is envious of you. Differences are what makes us all unique. And the fact that someone is envious of a quality about you that they wish they had, that needs to be motivation enough to love yourself. And at the end of the day, if all you receive are haters, jealous because of the qualities you have and they lack-then if no one else is going to love you, you really need to love yourself.

So embrace what you have-because I’ll bet you anything that whatever it is, someone else wishes they had it. And the only opinion that matters of how you look, is yours. I will no longer make up excuses, or put myself down for how I look, to appease others. I only need to appease myself.